I've just started testing one of Gambler's surprising new entries into the pips-out rubber market: GXM, a medium pip with 1.0mm sponge (it's also available in 1.5mm and 2.1mm). GXM's pips are wide-spaced and grippy. I'm interested in seeing if it can replace my OX LP on backhand to increase the offensiveness of my game. Initial results are promising! One thing I can tell you already, Gambler GXM 1.0mm is the absolute king of sink! I've never seen such profound sink effect on flat-hit balls, and that's with a 40+ poly ball! It's easy to manipulate spin on BH drives, sending anything from a topspin to a dead ball with little change in stroke. Serves like back/side are downright evil and give opponents a lot of trouble. Not good at chopping.. too grippy/pops ball way up. Serve returns requires an active stroke (no LP bump strokes!) but are devastating when done correctly. More later..

"Gambler GXM is made specifically for hitting, chopping, and aggressive style of defensive play. The pips are very small and widely spaced. GXM has much more control when hitting than long pips yet still manages to produce a strange dead ball to elicit mistakes from your opponent.

Sounds great! Can you compare it to any other MPs? Like Aggressor in 1,5? How is it for blocking/countering spinny loops? How is control, blocking, attacking compared to Aggressor and other MPs?

I have Aggressor in 1,5 but have only tried it very briefly. As long as I don’t add any speed myself it is ok, but when I try to hit with it, ball often flies like a rocket straight to the wall behind my opponent .

I also have a sheet of Giant Dragon 8228A that I like. It is much more controlled and easy to block and hit with, and it can generate some spin. But it is much more harmless compared to Aggressor. Perhaps Neubauer KO would be somewhere in between but this new MP you are describing sounds great.

The sponge is soft but I haven't gotten the feeling that it's bottoming out, even at 1.0mm. It is slow when played completely passively but add just a little forward motion and the speed is more than adequate to rush an opponent, and faster than any LP I've been playing. Evil service spin is a big plus over LPs. I've seen no evidence of sponge/topsheet separation.

Just an update to my previous post.. GXM 1.0mm *does* bottom out its sponge fairly easily but that's not necessarily a bad thing! I don't feel the pip produces unexpected results regardless of how hard I hit the ball.

o Ball grip is different when engaging the ball vertically vs horizontally, with vertically providing significantly more grip. This is evident during aggressive pushing where leading with the blade's edge produces a weak, spin-killing ball whereas leading with the blade's tip produces a stronger, spinnier ball. Opportunity for spin variation..?

o The pip is remarkably consistent when used in a standard BH drive stoke, generating good speed and even some topspin. Imparting spin variation isn't too difficult simply by flattening the stroke to produce a deader ball.

o Chopping remains problematic for me.. simply too much grip from the pips either pops the ball up or, if I over-compensate, sends it into the net. Very narrow window for success.

When I'm aggressive with GXM -- especially on serve return -- it rewards handsomely. But it's a difficult pip to master.. much like any MP, though it doesn't seem to have the steep learning curve of, say, 563. The jury is still out on whether I'll stick with it or return to OX LP.

I have tried this pip and still testing it. Its a hard to explain but its sometimes fast and sometimes slow just a little inconsistent or unexpected returns. Trying to figure it out, coming from playing with pogo its harder to tame.

After about 4-5 play days I've soured on this pip and have removed it from my blade. While it was excellent on service and made some impressive attacking shots, I found it lacked in the short game, especially when pushing. Sometimes the ball would just die on the pips and I suspect this had to do with the angle of ball contact relative to the pip alignment as I noted below.. too much variation between vertical and horizontal produced unpredictable results for me. Back to GD Talon OX.

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